


Arda University

by IAmCactusKay



Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-12-07 20:56:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18240107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAmCactusKay/pseuds/IAmCactusKay
Summary: Lindir didn't go to college to find love but he sure wasn't complaining when he found it.





	1. This Was Something

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own any of the characters depicted. All are characters created by J. R. R. Tolkien. This is simply to have fun and purely for entertainment purposes.

Lindir had no idea what he was getting himself into. His time at Arda was supposed to be spent becoming a botanist and then find a good job that would use his talents. Falling in love with his roommate was not part of the plan in all honesty. He knew he was in for it when he first met Elrond Peredhel, soon to be Dr. Peredhel as he was at Arda to become a doctor. Very ambitious, Lindir thought. It couldn’t be him. His biology classes were hard enough as is, he couldn’t fathom having to learn everything that Elrond had to. Fortunately, their personalities weren’t so different. Elrond was a quiet, thoughtful type person. Always thought about what he was going to say next before actually saying it. He was strong and levelheaded. He would stick up for anyone who needed it or couldn’t do it themselves. He was kind but don’t cross him. Lindir had seen him mad only a handful of times and every time was rather terrifying. He was incredibly smart—Lindir thought he remembered Elrond telling him that he was Valedictorian at his high school. Not to say that Lindir wasn’t smart, the only reason he could afford to go to Arda was on scholarship. Lindir was obsessed with things being perfect and his grades were no exception, but he knew he wasn’t the best in certain areas but he’d been working hard to keep his GPA up to keep his scholarships.

It wasn’t love at first sight but it was close. Elrond had stern eyes but they would soften whenever he looked at certain things, and Lindir was one of those things despite the younger not realizing it. That particular day, Lindir was stress cleaning. Again. Midterms were coming up and he was already struggling in this particular biology course. It’s not that he didn’t know the material, science was always his best subject, but the professor had a strange way of grading. He was very nit picky about their answers, which Lindir figured was a good thing but he also knew that when he got an actual job as a botanist he could look up any answers he didn’t know off the top of his head. No one was perfect but this professor was expecting them to be.

Elrond could just tell when poor Lindir was just too stressed. He cleaned everything in their dorm room. He walked in to see the kitchen spotless, the floors swept, the tiles mopped. He could hear the vacuum going but he wasn’t sure which room it was coming from. He glanced into Lindir’s room to see that, of course, it was absolutely spotless. It looked like a painting come to life. So that must mean…

“Lindir.” Elrond said, trying to be louder than the furious vacuuming that was taking place inside his room. “Lindir!” He yelled but when he got no response he sighed and walked over and unplugged the vacuum.

This caused the younger to let out an exasperated sound, one that was obviously in distress and he turned around to plug the vacuum back in when he saw Elrond standing with the plug in his hand. “Elrond, can you please plug that back in for me?”

“I have told you a hundred times that you don’t have to clean my room for me. I’m a grown man, I can do it myself. Besides, it’s not your job to look after me.” However, Elrond made no move to plug it back in. He wasn’t going to let the other get away with it this time. 

“I understand. I am not dumb nor deaf. I’ve heard the several hundred times you’ve told me before but I need to clean something. Please plug the vacuum back in.” He refused to look the other in the eye and seemed to be very antsy to get back to work.

“Lindir.” Elrond said in a rather stern voice that always got Lindir to listen. “I need you to understand what I’m trying to tell you and you won’t be able to hear me with you vacuuming.” Lindir let out a soft whine but said nothing else as he let the other continue. “You are going to run yourself ragged. While stress cleaning is better than some of the alternatives, you never stop cleaning even when everything, including my bathroom, is spotless. That’s a problem.”

“How is it a problem.” Lindir shot back quickly. He knew that, while it was destructive, he wasn’t really getting to the root of the whole issue of why he was stressed in the first place. “I’m not hurting anyone.”

“You’re hurting yourself.” Elrond crossed his arms, still holding onto the plug. “You’re going to clean yourself insane. Why don’t you talk to me about what’s going on instead? You know I am going to be a doctor, I can help you a bit. I can’t do much but maybe I can get to the root of something.”

“It isn’t going to help.” Lindir retorted with a small huff. “I would absolutely love it if you could just get rid of my problems just by talking to me but that’s impossible to do with what I’m currently dealing with.” He started walking over to the other and began to reach for the plug. “Just plug it back in so I can get back to work.”

“No.” Elrond said as he held the plug up out of reach of the other. Perks of being tall. “How do you know I can’t help if you don’t tell me the problem, hm? What sense does that make, Mr. Figwit?” He teased the other with a little grin on his lips.

“Hey--!” He reached up for the plug, jumping up and trying to grab the plug from the other to no avail. The drawbacks of being short. He was pouting when he realized that he wouldn’t be able to get out of this. So he sighed and grumbled to himself before crossing his arms. “Fine, you win. If you let me finish vacuuming, I will tell you what’s wrong. Okay? I can’t leave the floor half vacuumed. It’ll drive me insane and I won’t be able to focus.”

“I think that’s a fair trade.” Elrond said after faking being in deep thought. Elrond was a serious man a lot of the time but he did have moments of fun that ran through him. “Finish vacuuming and meet me in the living room so we can talk. I’ll even make your favorite tea.” He said with a smile before plugging in the vacuuming and walking out, leaving Lindir awestruck.

Within 45 minutes Lindir made his way out of Elrond’s room, dragging the vacuum behind him. He placed it neatly in its place in the little laundry area and came back to sit on the couch with his knees brought to his chest. Elrond emerged from the kitchen with two cups of tea in hand and sat next to him, handing Lindir his favorite mug—a pink mug with gold trim around the lip and with a gold handle. Elrond knew him so well and how to calm him down.

“Now, tell me what’s going on. Why did I come home to see you furiously cleaning yourself into oblivion?” Elrond said with a calm voice. He just wanted to get Lindir to calm down some.

“I…you know midterms are coming up. I’m okay in all my classes except my current biology class. This professor is so nit picky about what we put on exams that I failed the first one! And midterms are large portion of our grade. I barely passed the second exam and I really need to do good on this midterm so that I don’t fail this class and have to take it again. But no matter how much I study, I feel like I’m not going to have exactly what he wants me to have.” Lindir said all of that within, what seemed like, one steady breath. The panic was obvious in his eyes and in the tone of his voice.

“Okay, right now I need you to take a breath. Do that before we go any further.” Elrond waited for Lindir to take a deep, shaky breath before he continued. “I can definitely help you with that. I can be super nit picky—I kind of have to be. You know that. I’m in the same boat as you. Give me your book and your practice test and I can create some flash cards for you to study and then when you think you’ve got it, I’ll test you and see how you do and I’ll test you over and over again until you get all of them right in their entirety. Sound good? Your midterm isn’t until after Spring Break, right? So we’ve got two whole weeks to get you this good grade.” The smile that spread across Elrond’s face was contagious.

Lindir couldn’t help but let the small smile spread across his lips. “Yeah…yeah, that sounds good. I think a fresh pair of eyes on the material will help me.” He let his legs drop and he relaxed quite a bit. “I…I’m sorry I was being a bit much earlier.”

Elrond chuckled and shook his head. “It’s alright. I know how you get when you’re stressed. We’ve been roommates for a while now. I just don’t want you to run yourself ragged. You’re one of my closest friends. I mean, we’ve been around each other for forever now and I care about you.”

Hearing that made Lindir’s heart skip a beat. That’s when he knew that this was something.


	2. It Smelled Like Safety. It Smelled Like Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own any of the characters depicted. All are characters created by J. R. R. Tolkien. This is simply to have fun and purely for entertainment purposes.

Then there were their friends. They had common friends but it was obvious that they were closer to some than others. Lindir had Feren and his brother, Meludir. Feren was a theatre major, he did have a flair for the dramatic. Meludir followed in his brother’s footsteps and was going for biology but instead of botany, he focused on animals as he’d grown up around them. Then there was Thranduil who was more of Elrond’s friend—really the blonde had forced his friendship upon the other when they were in school and Elrond couldn’t get rid of him. Thranduil was a fashion student, which no one was surprised about, and he often fooled around with Feren and, to Lindir’s dismay, Meludir. Then there was Erestor who was close to Elrond and was somehow even more serious than Elrond. He was going into business. Glorfindel was going to become a teacher. They were all a bunch of differing personalities but maybe that’s why they all seemed to get along.

Well, Feren was really the only person Lindir confided in. At least on matters that involved Elrond, else he would’ve just gone to Elrond. Which would explain why Feren had flopped onto the couch in Lindir’s dorm after getting a frantic text from said friend. “Lindir, I’m here!”

Lindir shuffled out of his room. Elrond had gone to class for the day and said he’d be a bit late coming back as he wanted to make the flash cards without giving Lindir the chance to interfere. “Oh, thank God…I’m not sure what to do.”

“Is this about Elrond again?” Feren said with a raised brow as the other sat next to him. When Lindir nodded, Feren rolled his eyes and looked at him. “Come on, man, you’ve had a crush on him since the beginning.”

“No, like…this is different. I know it’s kind of dumb but he said he cared about me.” It sounded even more stupid when he said it out loud and he buried his face into his pulled up knees. “I know you say you care about me all the time but this was different. Hearing him say it made my heart speed up. That’s never happened before.”

“Oh, you’re totally in deep.” Feren chuckled softly and shook his head a bit. “A little bit of affections already got your heart going quick? What are you going to do when he ultimately asks you out?”

“What?!” Lindir choked on his saliva, his cheeks turning pink as he tried, desperately, to hide behind his long hair. “He’s not going to do that. He doesn’t see me that way, Feren. He’s completely out of my league. He’s going to be a doctor and I’m a botanist. In what world would someone like him, with all his smarts and good looks want someone who spends all their time placing plants around the dorm room and is obsessed with being clean.”  


“You say that as if you aren’t smart, Lindir.” Feren rolled his eyes yet again and let out a heavy sigh. “You’ve got more going for you than you think. You’re smart, that’s why you’re here. Need I remind you that you’re very good looking. I’m pretty sure I saw Glorfindel checking you out yesterday in the library.” He loved teasing his friend. “You only think he’s too good for you because you’re already preparing yourself for a rejection when you haven’t even brought it up to him.”

Lindir pouted softly and went quiet for some time. He knew Feren was right. Lindir tended to be an awful judge of how others perceived him. He thought himself as weird and unapproachable but his little brother looked up to him, Feren saw him as a valuable friend, Elrond cared for him. He had a bad self-image and everyone around him tried to get him to stop. “Of course, you’re right. I hate it when you’re right.” He sighed softly. “It still stands that I have this major crush that has apparently become something more than that. Elrond is so hard to read that I couldn’t even pretend to know if he has even a slight interest in me.”

“Well, I think I have an idea.” He had a mischievous grin on his lips that Lindir just knew would get him in loads of trouble when he inevitably followed through with Feren’s plan. “So, next week is Spring Break. Thranduil is absolutely loaded and is basically going on a cruise for the week and has only invited a select few people. Elrond is going.”

“Feren, you know Thranduil doesn’t like me enough to let me go on a filthy rich cruise with him and other rich people. I’m only In Arda because I got a scholarship. I don’t have that kind of money.” But now Lindir was interested in why Feren would bring it up knowing Thranduil would never give him and invite to something so luxurious.

“We’re roommates, remember?” And fuck buddies but that was implied with how Feren said it. “And tonight I can work my magic and get him to invite you and stick you and Elrond in rooms near each other.” His grin only grew as he continued to talk. “Think about it. You and Elrond only really hang out with each other anyway. You two get to hang out for a whole week outside of campus and really let loose. Get cozy with each other.” He waggled his brows suggestively before Lindir shoved him. “Also, word is that Elrond doesn’t want to go but I bet he’ll change his tune when he learns that you’re going to be there.”

“Feren…” The thought was nice. It was one of Feren’s more calm plans. Really it sounded like something he could do but… “I’ve got to study. Really, I’d love to. More than anything but Elrond said he’s going to be making me some flash cards for this class. This is a really hard class and I need a good grade on this midterm if I want any hope of passing this class.”

“So? Bring the cards on the cruise. You’re a little book worm anyway and I didn’t expect you to party the entire time anyway.” Of course Feren always had an solution to whatever excuse Lindir gave. “Come on, you really deserve some time off. Bring the cards and whatever else you need to study for and study on the cruise. I’m sure Elrond would love to help you study.” Feren looked down at his phone as it buzzed and chuckled. “Speaking of, Thranduil is back at the dorm. I’ll work my magic and get you an invite to that cruise.” He got up and left before Lindir could even attempt to make up another excuse not to go.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“Elrond, stop being so full of morals and fuck him already.”

Elrond choked on his tea that Lindir so graciously put in a thermos for him. He was busy making those flash cards for his dear friend when Thranduil decided to visit. “Thranduil, some of us appreciate and respect the boundaries of others. I can’t just have sex with my roommate.”

“Sure you can.” Thranduil said with a roll of his eyes as he sat on the table in the campus library. “Me and Feren do all the time. Sometimes I even get Meludir to join in.” He snickered.  
Elrond grimaced and sighed, looking up at the blonde. “I really don’t want to know about your sexcapades, Thranduil. I especially don’t want to know what you do with Lindir’s brother. You’ll give the poor think a heart attack if he knew what you told me despite me not asking for any details.” He went back to making the flash cards, flipping through the book Lindir had given him. “Besides, I’m much too old for him. He’s such a young thing and he deserves someone closer to his age.”

“Well, if you don’t make a move on him, Glorfindel has had his eyes on him for quite a while. And I definitely wouldn’t mind spending one night with him. He looks so innocent and I really can’t help myself—”

“You will do no such thing.” Elrond growled out. He was lucky he didn’t break the chair from how tight he was grabbing it so he didn’t swing on Thranduil. “Stop talking about him like he’s some object for you to use. He is a living creature and he has feelings and thoughts. He’s not some mindless toy for you to play with.”

Thranduil only smirked as he witnessed how his friend reacted. “So, you do have feelings for him? Isn’t this interesting…how long do you think you’ll be able to hide it from him? I wonder how long it’ll take you to notice that he’s head over heels for you.” He hummed softly, pretending like he didn’t just reveal some sort of revelation to the other.

“I beg your pardon?” Elrond stopped his pen and looked up at the other. “I think you’re mistaken, Thranduil. Lindir does not have eyes for me. I believe you’re only trying to get yet another reaction out of me and it will not work this time.” He huffed softly and went back to writing up these flash cards. Luckily, he was almost done as he had a number of hours to himself before Thranduil decided to show up.

“Well…” Thranduil pushed the book and flash cards aside and moved to sit right in front of the other, getting right in his face. “What if I said that he was coming on the cruise next week? I know you said that you didn’t want to go but I figured that this would be the thing to decide for you.” In reality, Feren had convinced him but Thranduil wasn’t about to admit that.

“What?” Elrond said with genuine shock written across his face. “Thranduil, you don’t like Lindir. You’ve told me many times that you tolerate him because he’s, and I quote, ‘a cute thing that I may try to get in my bed someday’.” Which Elrond did not like the sound of and was the first time he thought that maybe he had feelings for Lindir.

Thranduil sighed and sat back. “Fine, you caught me. I really don’t care to have him on the cruise. Honestly, all he does is talk about plants and books and it’s so boring. But Feren managed to convince me to let him come along. Because he thinks that it would be best for the both of you.” Thranduil stood up and looked at his phone. “I gotta get going. Meludir is being needy.” He walked to the door and paused. “Lindir really has the hots for you, man.”

That left Elrond with pink cheeks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in the dorm, Lindir was just finishing up the dishes when Elrond walked in. Lindir immediately broke into a smile. “I was wondering if you’d somehow lost your way back home.” He joked, pulling off the rubber gloves and taking the elastic out of his hair to let it billow down his back like a waterfall. His mind was still reeling over the email he’d gotten from Thranduil with the invitation to the cruise that had the ticket and all the necessary information on it.

“Oh, no. I could probably navigate this place with my eyes closed.” He chuckled softly and locked the door before walking over to Lindir. “So, I think I got everything for your flash cards. I put some extra information in there that wasn’t on the practice test that I thought might be pertinent because I know how some professors can be.” He smiled and handed the book along with a baggie of flash cards over to Lindir.

Lindir took them both gratefully and sat on the couch before he began to look through the flash cards. It was more than he would’ve ever thought of doing and was more than likely going to save his grade. He got off the couch and practically tackled Elrond in a hug. “Thank you so much…I don’t think I could ever repay you, Elrond. “

Elrond let out a soft grunt at the hug and chuckled as he hugged the other back, letting his hand run through the younger male’s hair. “It really wasn’t a problem. I needed a break from my health stuff and it was pretty interesting to learn about your interests. I can see why plants really interest you.”

Lindir wanted to pull away but now if he did, Elrond would see the blush that crept up on his cheeks. And he didn’t want to have to explain that. “Really? I always thought you thought my plant stuff was weird…” He buried his face into the other’s neck to hide.

Elrond just took it in stride, letting the other do whatever it was he felt he needed to. “No. Not at all. I always found it rather endearing how you always were very meticulous about how you took care of the ones we have here.”

That’s when a thought struck him. “Who’s going to take care of my plants!?” He cried out in panic, pulling away from Elrond to look at the numerous plants around the dorm. “Oh, I’ve got to get some self waterers—but I don’t have that kind of money…I knew I shouldn’t have let Feren talk me into going…”

Elrond stepped back in shock at Lindir’s outburst. “Hey, calm down—” He took hold of Lindir’s shoulders and made the other look at him. “I can buy them for you. Really, it isn’t a bother to me. I know how much they mean to you and I would hate to see them wilt when you’ve put so much effort into them.”

“Oh, no!” Lindir shook his head quickly. “No, I couldn’t possibly let you do that for me, Elrond!” He was beginning to panic again and Elrond could see that Lindir was going to spiral into stress cleaning mode again if he didn’t stop it now.

“Lindir.” He held up a hand to get the other to stop talking. “You’re not letting me do anything. I’m doing this because I want to. I don’t like seeing you so worried and stressed out. It worries me to see how bad it can get. I’m worried you’ll stress yourself out so badly that you’ll get sick.”

Lindir paused for a moment to see just how soft Elrond’s eyes got when he looked at him. There was worry etched so obviously in the other’s gaze that Lindir was struck into silence. He had not seen Elrond look at another like that before. Sure, he worried about others because he was to be a doctor someday. But he didn’t look at anyone like this. Like they were the only thing in the world that mattered and that as long as they were okay, he was okay. And it made Lindir think before he spoke for once. “Well…” He started after a few moments. “If I do get sick, that’ll give you an opportunity to put your doctor skills to use.” He said with a small smile.

Elrond couldn’t have stopped that small chuckle that left his lips even if he wanted to. “Even so, I don’t want you getting sick, Lindir.” He moved to make the other sit on the couch. “Tomorrow, while you’re at class and I have some free time, I’ll go and get the self waterers, okay? You don’t worry about that one bit. No stress cleaning. Just class and studying.”

Lindir went to argue but that would start this whole lecture over again and as much as he loved listening to Elrond talk, he didn’t want to be lectured. He got enough of that during class. “Well, that and pack for the cruise next week.” He said in a soft voice, almost as if he didn’t want to be heard at all.

“Oh, yeah. Thranduil stopped by the library to tell me that he had invited you. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go at first but…” Oh, no he’s dug himself a hole. How does explain that he wants to go now solely for the fact that Lindir is going to be there? “But…now that I know you’re going, I’ve decided that I better go as well. The people Thranduil is friends with can be vultures to those who aren’t like them.” Meaning people who don’t have money. “Honestly, everyone from the Mirkwood Dorm Building is going but I think me, you, Erestor, and Glorfindel are the only people from the Imladris Dorm Building that are going. I think everyone from the Lothlόrien Dorm is going as well.”

“Jeez, is Thranduil really that egotistical?” Lindir said as he tried to shrink in on himself. Lindir was probably the poorest of everyone that was going. Everyone knew he didn’t have a lot of money but his friends never seemed to care. He was just hoping that his lack of money wouldn’t subject him to ridicule from everyone else.

“He really isn’t as bad as he seems. It’s really a front. It stems from his father…it’s honestly a mess and I wish Thranduil wouldn’t do, well, what he does. He can be rather annoying, sure, because of how forward he can be and how he doesn’t seem to care about anyone else but he does care.” One of the good things about having Thranduil push his friendship onto Elrond was that he got to learn the truth behind the ego.

“I think he’d be more likable if he wasn’t so…how he is now.” Lindir dared to say as he sighed. “I don’t know. He always makes a point to ignore me whenever we all hang out. Honestly, I feel like you’re the only one who really sees me. Even my own brother is more obsessed with having Thranduil like him that he’ll sometimes ignore me and he doesn’t realize it hurts. None of them get it.” He didn’t realize he had been crying until he felt Elrond’s thumb wipe away the tears off his cheek.

“Lindir, it’s alright. Your brother thinks the world of you. He’s just young and eager to please. I don’t think he was anticipating being put in Mirkwood and he wants to prove himself to those who live there.” The little sob that left Lindir’s lips broke his heart and he swore he would never let that sound leave his lips ever again. “Lindir…” He pulled the other close to him, almost completely into his lap as Lindir began to audibly cry. “That doesn’t mean what he’s done is right. He’s hurt you and your feelings and hurt are valid. I wish I could take the hurt away because it breaks my heart to see you like this…”

“It’s not just my brother.” He hiccupped and sniffled, wiping his eyes with his sleeves. “You’re the only good friend I have. Feren is a good friend but he’d drop me in a heartbeat if Thranduil called him. Erestor never liked me and Glorfindel never talks to me. I feel so alone…” He broke into a heartbreaking sob, burying his face into Elrond’s chest. Everything kind of came to a head and spilled over.

“Oh, my dear Lindir…” He whispered and pulled the young botanist into his lap. “I’m sorry that you had this happen to you. I wish I could take this away from you. It breaks my heart to see you like this.” But Elrond didn’t mind holding him and letting him cry his eyes out. And he didn’t judge him for it. He knew his friend was emotional and he didn’t mind helping him get through this.  
It felt like hours before Lindir had calmed down. He felt awful but like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. “I’m sorry for messing up your sweater.” He whispered after sniffling. There was a giant wet spot on Elrond sweater from where Lindir was crying.

“It’s alright. My sweater can go in the laundry with the rest of my clothes.” He chuckled and smiled softly at the other. “Why don’t you go take a bath, Lindir? You deserve it. Have you eaten dinner yet?”

“I…not really? I ate some snacks but—”

“Go take a bath, Lindir. I’ll order some pizza. I’m not letting you go to bed without eating properly.” Elrond didn’t leave any room for argument and he knew it got to Lindir by the way that he just nodded and walked into his room. Within a few moments he heard the water running. Elrond took a deep breath and ordered them some pizza. Nothing wrong with leftovers if they have any. He then got an idea. Elrond got up and went to his room. He dug through his closet until he found a sweater that he didn’t really wear anymore. It was a maroon sweater that had green leaves dotting around it. He took it and left it on Lindir’s bed. Hopefully it would make him happy. He just wanted Lindir to be happy.

Lindir stayed in that bath forever. Hours? Maybe. But when he got out and saw a sweater on his bed, he knew who left it. He smiled wide and slid some shorts on before pulling the sweater on. It smelled of lavender and eucalyptus. It smelled of Elrond. It smelled like safety. It smelled like home.


End file.
